A New Hope

My dad was never sick a day in his life until about 2 years ago …

It was then that the symptons began to develop.

Occassional loss of balance, tripping, choking, slurring of words …

Uncharacteristic for sure, and at first, written off as …

Clumsy, going down the wrong windpipe, wake up sleepyhead.

But as the frequency of said symptons increased, so did our concerns.

And though Dad put on a happy face, never wanting any of us to be concerned, you could sense his anxiousness too.

Doctors upon doctors tested and evaluated him. And though the results could have been worse, they certainly weren’t good. He spent weeks at The Mayo Clinic, enduring test after painful test, and again, though the results could have been worse (we tend to look for the brightside of things in my family 🙂 ), they certainly weren’t good.

About a year ago, my dad’s condition began an accelerated decline. Walking became dangerous as he would fall unexpectedly and he’d choke without a moment’s notice. He could no longer walk around his manufacturing plants without risk of tumbling into the machinery. A cane was not only necessary to provide some ability to walk, it often wasn’t sufficient to do even that. From working 50-60 hours a week, he went to 20-25 hours a week.

My dad has been diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition which affects his ability to walk, swallow and maintain balance. There is no cure, life expectancies after diagnosis range from anywhere between 3 years to 15 years, depending at what point they diagnose. They are in the process of benchmarking my dad now to obtain such an estimate. Most with this condition die from unexpectedly choking or deadly falls. Those risks can be managed somewhat, but not totally eliminated. There is a split of authorities on whether this condition is inherited or not … Mayo says no, others say yes. My brother and I might have it ourselves, waiting to blossom. Who knows.

But one of the things Dad never gave up on was his efforts not to let this beat him. Sure, it could slow him down. Yuhp, it might require his attention. But nope, he wasn’t going to give up. From the time of his original diagnosis … Dad committed himself to walking on his treadmill every day … at least three miles a day … a painful task for him with the difficulty in just moving his legs … and a new task for him … as he never worked out once in the prior 10 years. But he decided for himself that he was going to at least try to keep his ability to walk as long as he could.

Six months ago my dad’s condition worsened even more. He was trying everything, but nothing seemed to work. Every doctor told him, he’s as good as he’s going to get. It’s only going to get worse.

That optimistic twinkle in my dad’s eyes, the one my brother and I both fortunately inherited, was losing its luster. It was frightening. A difficult time for all as we are a close, close family.

But my dad kept on walking. And about three months ago the rapid degeneration of his walking skills seemed to abate. In fact, in some respects, though only slight, it seemed his walking skills improved.

His physical therapist noticed the same. And commented, how sometimes the brain, the vast complex resilient organ that it is … when it loses the ability to do something one way … with enough work and effort, can often figure out another way to accomplish the task … and that maybe, my dad, through all of his walking, is training his brain to manage his motor skills with the sparking of another set of neurons, ones not affected by his condition.

And the knowledge of such as given my dad HOPE. Hope that maybe there’s a way to regain his ability to walk freely. And if that can be accomplished, there’s HOPE that maybe he can address his other ailments.

Now sure, he’s still in poor condition. Sometimes he has terrible days, he tires easily, his motor skills, walking skills, speaking skills can be greatly impaired somedays … but other days, but for walking with a cane, you’d have no idea anything was wrong.

The luster in my dad’s eyes has returned. And it’s the most wonderful feeling seeing it. 🙂

It returned because of HOPE.

Because he now has HOPE that things can get better.

Because he no longer has to accept that right now, today …

It’s as good as it’s going to get for him … That his symptons will never go away. That they can only be treated for short interval relief.

There’s a message there folks. 🙂